Gem and jewellery training institute to come up in Udupi

Gem and jewellery training institute to come up in Udupi

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, June 15, 2017: Reports confirm , the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), in association with the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, will be setting up the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery (IIGJ) in Udupi. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry, will lay the foundation stone for the institute here on June 16, Friday.

This training centre is amongst the series of training institutes and facility centres set up by GJEPC across the country. With IIGJ Udupi, GJEPC will foray into the education and training field in south India for the first time.

On setting up the institute, Praveenshankar Pandya, Chairman, GJEPC, said: “IIGJ in Udupi is one of the ambitious projects taken up by GJEPC to tap the unutilised potential of youth in this region to give a significant boost to Indian gem and jewellery sector.

This Institute strongly embodies Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and much professed emphasis on design and handmade jewellery,” he said.

Minister Sitharaman wanted to establish a full-fledged jewellery institute in Udupi with strong design focus. This was yet another step towards the pursuit of ‘Skill India’, he said.

The institute will provide training to youth in the region in various aspects of handcrafted jewellery making, which could eventually lead to employment opportunities in the gem and jewellery sector.

It will also aim at enhancing the skills of the existing workforce already engaged with the industry. Creation and upgrade of such trained workforce will help in fostering development of the local jewellery industry.